The Light
by I'm Random
Summary: "All the darkness that was lurking within my thoughts dissappeared, revealing the light that was hidden for so long." Cora's final thoughts before her death.


**Hello again! It's me! I have another story for you! After watching "The Miller's Daughter" I had to write this story. I hope you enjoy it! **

**I do not own Once Upon A Time**

**Note: This is in Cora's point of view. **

Through it all, I am able to make out Rumplestiltskin.

He lays on a bed of some sort, resting and breathing heavily. It is hard for him to breathe, I can tell, his heavy panting can be heard throughout this little shop. When he speaks, I can barely hear him, his words are captured by the air, dissappearing like magic before me. He whispers every so often, but I can only hear so little of what he has to say. But I hear enough. Even though his words are barely audible, they hurt me. For a moment, I feel his pain, like a small bothersome ache in my chest. I look into his eyes and reach forward with my hand. I stroke his cheek, smooth, nothing like the golden scales from before. I tell him what he wants to hear, an act of _kindness _on my part My words affect him, putting him under my spell, giving him this false hope of love and a twisted truth. Looking away from his eyes, I pull my hand back and stand.

I am towering over him, like a queen overlooking her peasants. He looks weak and tired resting there, nothing like the man I used to know. His eyes once full of life, are now losing it, becoming duller with every passing moment. His breaths are becoming shorter, giving him less life, and bringing him closer to death. He does not have the energy like he had in his youth. He is no immature little imp, waving his hands about and causing tragedies; he is an old man on his deathbed, his dark grey hair spread around him. This makes me feel pity for him, how can someone with so much power lose it all so quickly? Like a flash of lightning, this pity dissappears, leaving me happy and focused. Since he is dying, am I not doing him a favor? If he dies, all the power is gone, but if I kill him, the power becomes mine. I am not hurting Rumplestiltskin, I am helping him. I am letting his legacy live on, letting his power strive in this weird land. No one will forget his power, for it will become mine. Also, I am putting him out of his misery, out of the hell he is going through, taking away his pain, and making it mine.

I hold the dagger in my hand, and raise it above my head. Under my black gloves, my palms are sweating, giving me quite discomfort. Why is this? Why am I feeling this way? I've hurt many people in my life, some for no reason at all, why is this so hard? I've taken mothers away from children, husbands from their wives, friends from their loved ones. Some of these murders I had to do, so that my plan would move forward, some I did for sport, finding entertainment with the black ash that once belonged to someone. I've murdered many people, I've done terrible things much worse than this, so why is this so hard? When I kill him, he will leave nothing behind, not a single person will love him, not a single person will miss him. No one will greive him, I am doing him a favor, giving him mercy, even though he does not ask for it, but why is this so hard?

I see the life quickly leaving him, I need to do this fast. Holding the dagger, securing my grip, I focus on my victim. Through my blurred vision, I make out Rumplestiltskin's fading form. Goodbye Rumplestiltskin, goodbye forever...

I feel someone push me from the back, my back arching forward from the force. I close my eyes, and let out a small shout of shock. The dagger, once in my hand, drops to the ground, bouncing on the floor for a few seconds, before it is finally still. My tool to satisfy my lust for power is out of my reach, evading me. I feel something sliding into my body, filling the empty cavern within my chest. A warm feeling travels through my body, forever expelling the cold I was feeling. All the darkness that was lurking within my thoughts dissappeared, revealing the light that was hidden for so long. I catch my receding breath, clutching my chest that was once empty. A beating heart can be felt, delivering more light, more compassion, more love, more happiness.

Looking away from my chest I look up and see a smiling woman, her smile brightening the room, and making my heart beat faster. My tears blur my vision, a small barrier between me and my daughter's face. Seeing my daughter like this, I smile, my lips curling up in delight, my face lighting up immediately. She is nothing like the young girl I once held, she is a grown woman, idependent, beautiful, happy... everything I wanted for her. I think back to the many lost years, my lust for power overshadowing my little girl. My obsession for vengeance more important than my own child. All those years, I loved and raised my hatred, letting it consume my life, when I should have been watching my daughter grow. I can't go to the past and fix these terrible mistakes, but being right here, right now, I couldn't be happier.

"Mother" she says, her happiness brightening the room around us.

I smile, my tears falling freely. In her voice she held no anger, no sadness, but pure happiness. She forgives me! She wants to love me again! Even after all these years, she still wishes for my presence in her life, for my love. I know she can't forget the past and my many faults, my many crimes, but she is willing to start over, willing to take another chance. She wants me back, she wants her mother back! I want my daughter back too. Maybe happy endings do exist, giving us hope and leading us to a bright, wonderful future together.

A sudden pain pierces my chest, as if someone stabbed me with a small blade. The pain quickly travels throughout my body, making me weak. I am losing my breath, which is becoming harder to catch. It hurts to breathe, and I find myself gasping for air. I feel as though I am underwater, and I am being pulled under the service, being pulled deeper into the depths. I clutch my chest, whose beating is sending more pain throughout my body. What is going on? Why am I feeling this pain? Why am I growing weaker? I lift my black jacket to reveal a wound. It is deep, a dark red seen, its depths unknown. A green mist surrounds it, quickly covering it. My legs grow weak beneath me, and I fall to the ground. I am losing my energy, my life quickly turning into a struggle.

My daughter catches me in her arms, repeating my name, and it scares me. The happiness once present is gone, replaced with fear. She sounds like a child, who needs her mother, who needs my help. I cannot leave her now, after we just found eachother, its not fair!

I am losing my focus, the room is spinning quickly around me. I look up and focus on my daughter's face. Through my teary eyes, I can see her, her worry, her fear, her concern for me. She wants me to stay, she wants to reach this happy ending like I had wanted, she doesn't want me to leave her. I don't want to abandon her, I don't want to hurt her again, but I can feel my life slipping away, her face quickly fading. Why must this be our fate? After everything we've been through, all the suffering we had to face, does this have to be how it ends?

Looking into my daughter's eyes, I say my realizations aloud. "This would've been enough". And it would have. I had the power, I had the prince, but having your own daughter's love, there is nothing more important than that. Raising your own child, and hearing her say "I love you" that is the greatest power of all. It not only makes you feel warm, but it breaks down all the barriers you constantly built. It makes you have something worth living for. All my life I thought I was satisfied with my life, but nothing I said could get rid of the empty feeling within me. Now, looking up at my beautiful daughter, that empty feeling dissappears, quickly being replaced by the love I am now experiencing. Love, it can break any curse, even mine.

Love, it can make you feel warm, give you hope, and make your life worth living.

But it can also tear you apart.

Looking up at my daughter, I say my last words. "You, you would've been enough".

I close my eyes, and instead of the darkness, I see the light. I finally see the light.

**I hope you enjoyed it! It would really make me happy if you left a review and told me what you thought! Thank you for reading!**


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